Alvy Ampersand: Please. Come back... Please.

(Cue touching music and deep, sympathetic voice)

... because flame-outs can't happen... without you.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 9:57 AM on October 8, 2008

crossoverman: Is this something I'd need to read Metafilter to understand?

Yes. All of it.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:09 PM on October 7, 2008

I don't think that it makes any sense to assume that the average user will even have any idea what "line returns" are.

And if the average user does know what "line returns" are, then said user ought damn well to know that "with no line returns" means the same thing as "keep it in one paragraph."

And if that increasingly hypothetical user happens to know what line returns are and yet... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:44 AM on October 6, 2008

jimmyjimjim: yeah, "line returns" was sloppy. How about "blank lines"? that's clear.

But, jimmy: it's already clear. Why change it more?
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:05 PM on October 6, 2008

I can only say that I am happy that Sarah Palin's term as prime minister of Canada will soon be over.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 10:28 AM on October 5, 2008

DU: Boy, word to this. But actually, I only want to follow certain threads of the discussion. Which requires threading. Which is objected to for some reason, even though threads really do exist conceptually, they are just crippled by a lack of tools to handle them.

Threads are already provided on the only level that makes sense.

Anybody who loves the old BBSes (yeah, I've been there) is going to... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 10:24 AM on October 2, 2008

brevator: Hummus vs. Bacon

Most of the injustices in the world are, at root, caused by the fact that most of us have a deep and irrational urge to make distinctions and disjunctions and to draw oppositions where none need enter the issue. Often we can remedy these injustices by realizing that world is a coexistence of all things, and thus these binary polarities do not need to be absolute.

Hummus AND bacon. Not halal. Still good.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 3:16 PM on October 1, 2008

youcancallmeal: I guess I was wondering if I was the only one who noticed this. And was hoping that an offender could tell me why.

Ah. So you're not one of those jerks who asks rhetorical questions loudly simply to make themselves heard. You're one of those jerks who asks rhetorical questions loudly and then forces other people to answer them as penance for their sins.

I, for... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 9:57 PM on September 27, 2008

More to the point, al, you've cited one question. This isn't a widespread problem. I use AskMe daily, I'm active there, and while I certainly can't claim absolute or universal knowledge of what goes on there, I don't think it's a serious problem.

You do, apparently. Why? What other questions have you seen that were disrupted this way? How do you conclude that it's a widespread and destructive problem?
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 10:01 PM on September 27, 2008

Rhomboid: Poster: the computer won't boot from the CD. Bios is set up properly.
First response: Have you checked the BIOS ...

A BIOS can be set up 'properly' and still be set up to boot from the hard disk first, thus bypassing the CD.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 10:10 PM on September 27, 2008

languagehat: Bullshit. This is a widespread problem, and it's infuriating enough it causes me to post cranky answers that get deleted.

Eh, probably correct.

I think what got in the way for me here is that I really can't stand it when people ask rhetorical questions and then demand that other people answer them. "Why did you do that silly... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 8:19 AM on September 28, 2008

salvia: Nothing?? What about the sitcom plot when someone thinks her friends forgot her birthday when they were really just planning a surprise party? ("Surprise!!")

Fair enough.

Fine then.

There is one thing I hate more.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:46 AM on September 28, 2008

Community penalties never work well, and I have a feeling they'd be subject to more screwing around and troublemaking than they're worth. And if people don't read the question, why would they read a note at the bottom of the screen that's always there, even if they do have to click it before they post?

The best solution is better questions, though this isn't the fault of the people asking.

I think we should eliminate the "more inside"... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:20 PM on September 28, 2008

People who read askme frequently usually read through the questions they see on the main page and click on one they feel they have some experience with. The hard bit is what they do when they get inside. Theoretically, people shouldn't necessarily have to read the comments, and some don't; but I think people often get excited because they feel they have particularly insightful things to say and end up roughly skimming the 'More Inside.'

The trick is to weed out those... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:29 PM on September 28, 2008

ghost of a past number: This solution is way too drastic, if you think of the side-effects: clutter on the front page of AskMe and badly posed questions. Just think of what relationshipfilter would look like without "more inside", or coding questions.

I remember what it was like (what was it, two years ago?) before Matt added this feature, and I don't remember it being bad at all. However, I'm not a mod, and I can... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:38 PM on September 28, 2008

That makes sense. So would it be possible to make the "more inside" a little bigger, maybe?

I know it's hard to see that as a solution to the problem at hand. I guess maybe there isn't one.

The suggestion up above for a character limit on the 'more inside' might make sense. Other than that, I really can't think of anything.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 2:58 PM on September 28, 2008

Ask.Metafilter: still not the very worst on the internet when it comes to reading questions before answering them.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:44 AM on October 1, 2008

Super censer
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 7:42 AM on September 30, 2008

Jofus, I am sorry, but my censer is more super than yours.

I mean, come on. They had to hang it from a rope attached to the ceiling because it's so big. Incensational!
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 8:02 AM on September 30, 2008

Rafaelloello: Facts - Good... Conclusions - Bad? ... How would you assemble the facts? BTW, why do you feel compelled to put quotes around the word facts? Tell the "truth".

"Facts" deserves quotations when true details about a situation are adduced to imply a false idea of the whole. It is a fact that Hollywood in the '50's and '60's included many Jewish people who were producers and directors. If... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 8:20 AM on September 30, 2008

box: Also, if you rearrange the letters in 'Rafaelloello' it spells 'Roll a loaf eel.'

Real loo, fella.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 8:24 AM on September 30, 2008

Kickstart70: I'm using original Linux (taken out of simple mode) and Firefox.

Wow - original Linux? That's incredible!

How do you keep Firefox running under 64mb? Did you port in the X windows system yourself?

And, uh... how the hell did you manage to jam an old 386 processor and an AT-harddisk into an EEE? Seems like that'd be a real task.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 3:42 AM on September 27, 2008

empyrean: My friend has one of each and I'm insanely jealous, even though my clunky fingers can't handle hacking at the tiny keys.

Making annoying jokes like I just did is the only way I can hide my own jealousy, actually. I want one of those little things so bad. I think that if my wife has to say 'what do you need a tiny computer for?' one more time, she's probably going to go nuts.

And, yeah: good on, people.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 4:19 AM on September 27, 2008

Fluxbox is wonderful. It really is.

Openbox is better.

Handscripted menus? Pfft. Try handscripted dynamically generated menus. In Python!
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:28 PM on September 27, 2008

I am but a mere mortal, Kickstart, and bow to your mighty cred, which is far better than mine.

As I said, I joke out of jealousy.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 2:53 PM on September 27, 2008

alan: Have you tried Google. It lets you search the internet for stuff. These guys are going to make a mint if they can figure out a way to monetize this.

Holy crap - sarcasm on the internet? alan, what a great idea.

Have you tried inserting your sarcastic comments into amusing pictures of cats yet.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:14 PM on September 27, 2008

UbuRoivas: if only we had an "ignore" feature.

Happily, I have a built-in "distract-myself-from-pointlessly-involved-Metafilter-disputes-that-are-of-no-consequence-to-me-with-delicious-cake" feature.

Which feature I am deploying right now.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 9:59 AM on September 24, 2008

Although

Jofus: shooty-from-the-hippy

sounds like I'm buying heroin for injection from a guy who smells like patchouli.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 10:08 AM on September 24, 2008

EEEP!
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:34 PM on September 24, 2008

nkyad: You see, your papers keep talking endlessly about places like Georgia, Kosovo, England. Have you ever walked, driven or rowed a boat to one of those places? Flying there won't do: your plane just kept flying for hours and landed in an assigned NSA-Disney facility, where you and your fellow passengers were allowed to "visit" the foreign country.

And they're not even very creative with the names.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 1:15 PM on September 23, 2008

It may also be that Europeans, Africans, and Asians are finally heeding our requests and just staying awake while it's dark and sleeping when it's light out so that they are awake whenever we'd like to talk to them.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 1:37 PM on September 23, 2008

... A few years ago, I was privileged to teach a group of splendid students at the University of California at Santa Barbara. In order to do so, I had to fly in and out of that coastal paradise on a weekly basis, and, as pleasant as my class was and as beautiful as the setting is, I found the community of Santa Barbara troubling in its perfect contentment and uncanny coherence. Contentment is always annoying, of course, but the coherence was confusing in the extreme, since the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 10:19 AM on September 23, 2008

These comments aren't threaded?

Geez, and to think I've been doing it wrong all this time.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:28 AM on September 23, 2008

Dave Faris: As the Cult of the Quasi-Significant Numbers cries out in anguish...

Your Dedekindian 'numbers-have-no-intrinsic-nature-or-quality' bullshit is over, punk. Numbers have natures. They are not nameless, faceless stops on some ridiculous imaginary line. Your mocking will not be tolerated; the Greeks were correct, and you are wrong.

Go read Heidegger now.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:35 AM on September 22, 2008

Artw: I would've said fuck it and FPPed it myslef, though no doubt the same parade of picky assholes would show up.

Jesus god, can somebody just link to the stupid thread already? That would've saved all this, you know. And it would've kept this post from sounding like 'hey, look, this happened on BoingBoing, so it's Metafilter-related!'
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:24 AM on September 22, 2008

Missed that it was there the whole time. Here I've been searching for it for ten minutes. Ack.

I'll be soaking my head if anybody needs me.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:25 AM on September 22, 2008

I have five words:

Punch 'Em In The Dick, extended version.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 1:53 PM on September 19, 2008

I count words differently. This is my right.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 7:30 AM on September 20, 2008

Eekacat: No Dave Faris, and I think you're finally being insulting...

AT LONG LAST
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 9:42 AM on September 18, 2008

This trend that we've been seeing of being noticed by various groups of people is interesting. Metafilter used to be such a wallflower; he was into all those books, and he seemed very intelligent, but his voice always cracked before it finally deepened, and he always acted awkward in social settings.

I'm personally looking forward to the time when Metafilter finally starts getting noticed by girls.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 11:26 AM on September 17, 2008

Metroid Baby: True story: a friend of mine (who is a girl) and I (who am also a girl) were walking down the street shooting the shit, and she said something about Asking Metafilter, and I was all "omg you read Metafilter?" and she was like "totally!" and then we had a pillow fight and made out.

Okay, the pillow fight and making out part didn't actually happen, but the rest is true.

*Metafilter reddens, laughs nervously*
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 1:29 PM on September 17, 2008

rmd1023: *coughboyzonecough* I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE.

Well, maybe you can tell me, then.

Full disclosure: 'Metafilter has no girls, ha ha, right?' would be a stupid joke, if one were to make it, not least because there's no truth to it. Hell, I probably know more girls on Metafilter than I know guys, at least whose posts and whose usernames I recognize. Come to think of it, that's pretty exceptional when you... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 8:54 AM on September 18, 2008

I found that comment disgusting and offensive, but only because every time I read

Are you emotionally mature enough to not loose your shit

it's very difficult for me not to think of the horror with which I first realized as a child what my grandmother's 'Stool Softener' was for. Ugh.

Look, people, I think we can all agree that you don't even have to be... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 2:14 AM on September 14, 2008

mrzarquon: Don't think this needs to be a meta, but its a typo, and means "little debbie snack cake", which is well, a small snack cake.

I feel that way as well. It's a very reasonable thing wgrbrsfsrs brings up in that comment, in fact: many's the time that I've had a good relationship with a female friend go sour because I have a habit of enjoying small, cellophane-wrapped pastries, and because my snack-food... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 2:23 AM on September 14, 2008

Hmm. See, this is a terrifying conundrum. I can't decide whether I should try to make a Roman Polanski joke or a Deep Purple joke.

I guess the Deep Purple joke would be the more obvious one.

But I can't for the life of me figure out how you'd go about making a Roman Polanski joke.

Urm... pedophile?
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 8:59 PM on September 14, 2008

I flagged it at first, too. But the question - am I missing something? - seems valid to me on reflection. It sounds less like an attack to me than a real request for some input on why Jeff Koons is seen as a great artist. Questions like "why are the Beatles so significant?" would be on the border, too, but I think they work.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 5:11 PM on September 11, 2008

mcbeth: I noticed another question today, posted by another Mefite.

I understand you're probably calling me out, since the first few responses (the first one starting "huh?") are from me.

The "simplicity of the question" was: "Can I demand to be fired so that I can collect unemployment insurance?" Yeah, that's not illegal, but just almost - heck, it could be in some... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 3:08 PM on September 10, 2008

mcbeth: Have you ever been in a pub or bar with a group of friends and you get sassy with your friends after a pitcher or two? That's what I (apparently, poorly) was aiming for with 'barstards'. I'm trying to express a fondness + frustration, like calling someone you care about a knucklehead and giving them a noogie after they do something that troubles you.

It sounds weird, but I suddenly understand perfectly the tone of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 3:16 PM on September 10, 2008

Not only "gross," by the way. Unnecessarily offensive metaphor, methinks.

Just sayin'.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:40 PM on September 4, 2008

Mod Silence

will be the name of my long-dreamed-of Small Faces cover band.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 9:37 PM on September 2, 2008